I am debating on which quad to get. I was dead set on getting a YZF and almost bought a race ready 04, but it was just a little out of my price range. I know the YZF is a beast, I?ve seen it in action, and I have not yet seen an LTR 450 in action really or heard much about the comparison to the YZF. Do anyone have either and can vouch about the comparison? Any insight will help. I know the LTR comes with awesome components that I would have to add on to the YZF, but then I have heard that the LTR doesn't have as much bottom end as the YZF. I do a lot of hill climbs and trails; racing is only occasion. Which one do you suggest?

 

This is exactly where all this "race ready" marketing is going to lead..........recreational riders buying into the "racing" hype, when we all know that 99.9% of these machines will actually never see any action on any track.

If you are a hill climber and trail rider, then buy a quad that is well adapted to those conditions............

 

Z400 is the machine to look into.

The maintenance schedule is way frequent with those race models. Wide is good for an MX track, but no good for tight trails. A z400 with appropriate tires, slip-on, and airfilter will really excell for trails, hills, jumps, and even the occasional track.

 

Thanks for the input guys.

 

Sorry, I was in a hurry and didn't get to finish my post. The YFZ is a great machine. It would be my choice for play riding or the track.

The Suzuki is still a bit of an unknown. Word is that they are breaking frames. A guy camped next to me a while back had one, and he was riding desert. Said it was holding up well. Might be a little wide for very tight trails though.

Personally, among the 450's I like the Honda. I think it is a better all-around machine than either of the two above quads.

 

Ok again I apprecaite the input. I have a Predator 500 myself right now and it does a superb job on the trails and fairly decent on the hill climbs. The next quad would be for my brother who wants to have an option to ride sport with me instead of his 4x4 always. You are correct with your inclination that the quad will not see full time track usage being that I am not a pro rider like yourself. However, the place were we used to ride had tracks (one for you pros and one for intermediates) and all I did was ride the track. Now we tend to stay closer to home and ride at old quarries and such. We get real interested into the YZF when a couple of buddies would tear up the steepest inclines on the rock/shale hills and hit the bottom at 3rd and tick 4th and pull a wheelie up the rest, finishing the hill in 5th. All they have done is exhaust, jetting, and cam adjuster. I do think the best for us would be either the YZF or the TRX, being the LTR is spec'd for racing, I just want an atv with a beast of a motor and have a fairly decent chassis right off. Your opinion would be to go with the TRX?

 

I like the TRX as an all-around machine, but it is geared to tall for really tight trails (I ride the 400EX there). The YFZ doesn't have anything over it in terms of power.

The Raptor 700 has a lot of potential. I personally don't like the ergonomics that well and it is to narrow for my taste (even for trail riding), but that engine pulls and pulls!

 

The YFZ is the best all around 450. The Suzuki handles the best but is down on power. The Honda is up on power but the YFZ handles better.

Basically it falls dead in the middle in both the handling and power categories. I ride trails on mine and ride with several guys who also ride trails on theirs and it does just fine.

 

I rode a buddies YFZ for a few hours on a really tight semi-technical trail, and boy was I glad to get off that thing and back on my Z400! Ths suspension was harsh, and the motor likes to rev so there was a lot of clutch work required......wrong tool for the job.